2012 Show Us Your Buckmark Winners Announced.

Release Date: 4/10/2013

Congratulations to the 2012 Winners!

The winners of the Browning Show Us Your Buckmark contest have been selected. These winners are chosen from submissions posted to the Show Us Your Buckmark contest page (here on browning.com) for the 2012 calendar year. The prizes have been awarded in keeping with contest guidelines and requirements. Entries were judged on their ratings and creativity. In some cases we received many entires that were very similar and with ideas that had been done before. But this year's winners stood out from the crowd making this year's submissions some of our most creative and interesting ever. For contest info click here.

Grand Prize winners were given a choice of a Maxus Hunter or X-Bolt Hunter. Runner-Up winners could choose a Browning .22 rifle. This year, some winners decided to upgrade to other guns and even to exchange for a Browning gear package.

2012 Runner-Up Winners

John Dahl – Only the Shadow Knows

A self-taught artist living in Eugene, Oregon, John Dahl has long been inspired by the work of the great Western artists like Charles Russell and Fredrick Remington. When he’s not out hunting or fishing, John is busy in his studio working on his next sculpture. (Since John has been living in Oregon for more that 50 of his 70+ years, his state fishing license is now free.)

“This 4-D sculpture is made from heavy 9-gauge soft iron wire,” he said. “I started with the light source and have a Buckmark pattern pinned on the wall. I bend the wire by hand until the shadow matches the pattern. The actual size of the piece is about a foot high, and I usually place it about a foot or so away from the wall.”

“I love to watch people’s reaction when they discover the 4-D shadow secret of this sculpture,” he continued. “They take a first look and say ‘ho-hum’ but when they turn on the light and see it cast the Buckmark shadow, they’re awestruck.”

John has graciously donated his sculpture to the Browning art collection. Now the visitors to our offices can be awestruck as well.

Side note: A lot of people don't believe that John Dahl's mangled bird's nest of bent wires perched on a rock really works -- and they wonder why he won. The video of his 4-D sculpture below shows you why! Lot's of people who first saw this on Facebook thought it was all smoke and mirrors. But it's the real deal. One secret? It takes a lot of time. John chose a Maxus Hunter for his prize. Not bad.

Greg Lewis – 100 acres and a Buckmark

Greg’s love for the Browning Buckmark runs deep in the rich Indiana soil. “I was working this ground one day,” noted Greg. “The idea just hit me. I checked with my boss and the other guys I work with and then I fired up my New Holland tractor and started plowing.”

Guided by a Trimble GPS unit, Greg started disking up some soybean stubble on this 100-acre parcel of ground. The result is a super-sized Buckmark.

To give you a sense of scale, the field is about a half-mile long. No word as yet on if Greg’s masterpiece is observable from the International Space Station or from a Google Earth satellite. Next time around that plot will be planted in field corn, so it’s anyone’s guess what kind of “special” Buckmark project Greg has up his sleeve come summertime.

Greg is also a bit bummed that his favorite New Holland tractor doesn’t have a gun-rack…at least, not yet.

Michael Bois – Fun with Fungi

“I am a microbiologist who, aside from the microscopic creatures that I study, love nature and the outdoors,” said Michael. “And, of course, I love BROWNING!”

“I’m working on my Ph.D., and I’m doing my doctoral dissertation on how a particular protein can orchestrate the switch from a given microorganism being a commensal to it becoming a pathogen,” Michael explained. (Editor’s note: Commensal means two organisms existing in a symbiotic relationship. We had to go and look that up.)

“I took the Browning logo and put it under the petri dish, then added Saccharomyces cerevisiae, transgenically expressing a candidial cell wall protein and a red fluorescent protein, hence the pink coloration. It was sort of like coloring in a coloring book,” explained Michael. “Then I incubated it for 24 hours at 20 degrees Celsius. This is what came out.” (Editor’s additional note: Saccharomyces cerevisiae is more commonly known as brewer’s yeast. Oh, and please don’t try this at home.)

“Next time I might try something like this with a multi-color organism, maybe a bread mold,” Michael concluded. “That would be a really cool entry.” (Editor’s additional, additional note: Don’t even think of trying this at home.)

As his reward, Michael will be taking to the grasslands and trap field with a new Citori Feather Lightning. (Editor’s closing note: No fungi or other micro-critters were harmed in this project.)

Clint Rafac – Wedding Bell Orange

After 20+ years of welding and grinding in his parent’s machine shop, Clint Rafac knows something about quality metalworking. A fireman by profession, Clint designed and cut out this one-of-a-kind illuminated sign for the wedding of friends Michael and Jerilyn.

“Michael and Jerilyn are avid shooters,” noted Clint. “The day before their wedding ceremony they were both out in the field getting in some last-minute hunting.”

Clint computer-designed the sign face and cut out the pattern on a PlasmaCAM cutting system. He then added some LED rope lights to the back to make the pattern stand out. “We were going for a solid orange background, but it came out more like a sunset, and was better than we’d planned so we left it that way. And it runs on 110 AC so you can plug it in to any wall socket.”

And how was the wedding cake? “Ah, well…I didn’t get any cake.” lamented Clint.

We guess Clint will just have to make do with his new Browning rifle, or hit the sporting clays range with his folks, both of whom are avid clay crushers.

Mark Denhaan – Nice Rack

“This was my first welding project,” said Mark Denhaan of Surrey, British Columbia. “It’s on my 2000 GMC Sierra pickup. I bought the basic rack used off Craigslist, and I needed to stretch it about 2” to fit properly.”

“I had to kind of fit it all together as I went along, so there are a couple extra holes and patches that needed to be added,” Mark continued. “It’s powder coated and it turned out pretty well for a first attempt. I’m still not done yet. I need to add the rear portion so I can carry my kayaks.”

“The rack worked great on a recent deer hunt in the mountains north of Kamloops,” finished Mark. “This is my hunting buddy with our two nice BC Mule Deer. They provided some great steaks and roasts, and the rest we turned into venison burgers.”

When he’s not welding or running rivers, Mark is out hunting with one of his favorite Brownings, either a Maxus or his dad’s BPS Stalker, the same shotgun Mark used to bring down his first ducks.

Mark Scarrow – Up on a Pedestal

“In 2010 I was fortunate enough to travel to South Africa on a 10-day safari with my father. I chose to take my Browning A-Bolt chambered in 325 WSM,” said Mark. “My professional hunter had never guided anyone shooting this caliber and had his reservations, even though I explained to him how many animals I had already harvested with it. By the end of the safari I had harvested 5 animals, including the waterbuck pictured, with one-shot kills, most of which dropped in their tracks.”

“The trophy pedestal is made of black walnut harvested from a tree in my brother’s backyard. I had to plane the lumber from rough-cut boards and left the wood its natural color with just a urethane finish,” noted Mark. “The Buckmark is back-lit to provide accent lighting.”

“The best part is that my wife likes it so well, she said I can build another one to sit in the other corner of our formal living room!” concluded Mark. “I’ve always been proud to shoot Browning products and to sport the Browning logo. The next chapter is a Dall Sheep hunt this fall with my new 270 WSM X-Bolt.”

2013 Runner-Up Winners

Dave Hanks – Cast Iron Worker

“I’m a retired tool and die maker for Caterpillar,” said Dave Hanks with plenty of downhome Tennessee pride in his voice. “I have my own shop in a three-car garage now, and I do all sorts of plasma cutting for folks, just about anything you can think of.”

“I’ve cut about 25 or 30 skillets so far, with lots of different patterns,” noted Greg. “I tried using old skillets I picked up at yard sales and such, but they just didn’t cut well. Maybe it’s all the heating and cooling they’ve gone through, or maybe it’s the oil and grease in the iron. When I tried a brand new skillet it worked just great.”

It took Dave about a year to get all the bugs worked out. Plasma cutting a hefty cast iron skillet isn’t an easy task. It has to be done upside-down, backward and at a 45-degree angle.

When we asked if the Buckmark improved the flavor of his morning bacon and eggs, Dave laughed and said “Absolutely! Of course, cooking pancakes is a problem. Maybe next time I’ll cut a bacon and eggs pattern in a skillet.”

Dave’s next projects include plasma cutting old iron platters, pizza pans and silver-plated serving dishes. There’s lots of stuff to add the Buckmark to when you go looking for it!

Sylvie Juteau – Stained Glass Vision

“To make a long story short, my hubby and I, after looking for a few years, finally found the piece of country land of our dreams,” said Sylvie Juteau of Alexandria, Ontario. “We’re restoring an 1890s era house on about 30 acres, and I now have room for my own art studio and he can pick up his hunting gear and walk around the property.” According to Sylvie, the property is home to whitetail deer, wild turkey, geese and assorted small game.

Sylvie is an established glass artist, but her entry represents only her second attempt at stained glass. Built in the traditional leaded and soldered method, Sylvie used several types of glass in the piece, including antique and semi-antique glass panels, and transparent glued glass that is based on an ancient technique giving a lacy, leafy texture to the material.

“I was well into making this piece of stained-glass when a family member informed me of your contest and I must admit it brought a little more wind to my wings,” continued Sylvie. “My idea was to try to integrate your logo, which I always liked, into a somewhat Victorian setting. To me, bringing Browning’s bold and beautiful contemporary icon into the classic Victorian past was a challenge I couldn’t wait to tackle.”

Sylvie was thankful for the opportunity to enter the Show Us Your Buckmark contest. “I would like to say that this contest has been an eye opener to me. Creativity and skill resides in all of us.”

Scot George – Custom Cedar Plates

“I have kept up with the Buckmark contest for several years,” said Scott George. “I thought it would be neat to win a Browning. A couple of years ago I began making bowls and plates out of cedar. I started monogramming the plates with initials or names, and that gave me the idea to try to make a plate with a Buckmark.”

“After many hours of trial and error, I finally got one made,” added Scot. “Then I thought, ‘It's no fun to sit and eat the rewards of a successful hunt by yourself’ so I made three more plates."

“I enjoy hunting, but many times I hunt alone. To me, the best part of hunting is grilling and eating venison with friends and family, and sharing the story of a successful hunt,” Scot concluded. No final word on if Scot’s plates are dishwasher safe.

Thank You.

A special thank you goes out from us to all who entered the 2012 Show Us Your Buckmark contest and special thanks to those who voted and ranked the thousands of entries last year. Thank you to all the winners for providing us with the amazing and interesting backstories to their entries. All of us at Browning love Browning and the Buckmark logo -- and seeing what all of you can create with the logo is one of the highlights of every year. Feeling creative? Enter this year and you just might win a new Browning rifle or shotgun.

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